Thunder Bay Unseen

Thunder Bay Iron Ore Trestle

Possibly one of the greatest pieces of railroad infrastructure to be built in Thunder Bay or the former cities of Port Arthur and Fort William.  The Iron Ore trestle was built for the soul purpose of transferring iron ore from the Steep Rock Mine in Atikokan to the waiting ship in the harbour at Port Arthur.  Built of iron, steel, concrete, and wood, the trestle was intended to stand for over a century.  Within 50 years of its completion much of the structure had been torn down and removed.  The trestle and its approaches made a great impact, however, on the early development of the Intercity Area.  Its presence can still be seen today, over a decade after the last trains traveled its rails.

This break in the trees marks the starting point for the original ore trestle siding.  From this point, shortly after the CN bridge across the McIntyre River, trains of ore left the mainline and headed towards the iron ore trestle.  The actual trestle actually crossed over this mainline closer to the waterfront.

The route of the tracks leading to the trestle is still easily apparent.  The ballast upon which the rails sat is still intact in some places along its route.  The ballast is packed hard enough that very little has managed to grow through it.  Certainly no large trees have grown high enough to block the view. In other places the ballast has been removed to make way for development but the shape of some building lots betray the route as well. Update: The area shown in the picture at left has been cleared to make room for the development of a new Courtyard-Marriott Hotel and restaurant. The development has been put on hold pending legal issues between the developer and the city.

Carrick Street is named for a former Mayor of Port Arthur: John James Carrick.  Carrick was responsible for many of the housing developments in Port Arthur, after the turn of the century, including Carrick Park, Brent Park, Highland Park, Victoria Park, and Mariday Park.  Before 1956 Carrick Street was known as Franklin Avenue.

In a controversial decision the City of Thunder Bay recently added a set of traffic lights at Carrick Street where it crosses the Harbour Expressway.  Prior to the existence of these lights Carrick Street was not a through street on both sides of the Expressway.  It used to stop short of the Expressway on the south side by about 500 or so feet.  Some drivers have complained about the need to stop now along this stretch of roadway.  They do, however, have short memories as this is approximately the same place where the trestle route crossed, what was then, 16th Avenue.  The crossing was gated with warning lights and the waits for passing trains of ore were much longer than the current reds.

The route of the trestle is now dotted with new buildings.  Amongst these new buildings is the Real Canadian Superstore (left), the Intercity Veterinarian Hospital (lower left), and the Teleco Building (below).  Each of these buildings was built after the decommissioning of the route and the removal of the tracks.  The Superstore occupies a lot which was once home to a radio tower which allowed the citizens around the twin lakehead cities to receive CKPR (and later CJLB) on the AM band.  In the 1980s CKPR moved off John Street Road and CJLB moved to Main street. The tower was removed soon thereafter. Thanks to readers Dennis Barriault and Scott Sound for checking the facts and correcting me when it was needed.

Across Central Avenue from Carrick Street is the site of the switching yard. The yard was found at the base of the actual trestle and allowed for the storage of hopper cars that were either newly emptied or needing to be emptied. The site still bears the unmistakable signs of use - the ground underfoot is permanently stained rust red.  The thousands of tonnes of iron ore that passed through this yard its way out to waiting ships had literally tonnes of dust shaken off, only to have it fall to the ground and collect.  Over the four decades of use the dust piled up and piled up, left to rust away even now, long after the last car had been hauled away.

The area, itself, still displays many signs of its former purpose - a fire hydrant lost amongst the growing weeds, a single light pole standing forlorn, slowly being reclaimed by the encroaching forest.

The yard area is now mainly used as a storage area by the bordering business.  Some companies store heavy equipment, other store immense piles of soil and other landfill.  One company uses the area to store pieces of scrap metal, such as the one to the left.  This appears to be the former canopy of a Spur Gas Station.  The Spur stations in Thunder Bay all closed over 10 years ago.

This area used to be the slope up to the beginning of the actual iron ore trestle.  After the trestle was closed and decommission a local firm was hired to clear the remains of the ramp away.  Eventually, it is thought, that Winnipeg Avenue will connected across the former trestle site.  For over fifty years the northern half of Winnipeg Avenue was separated from the southern half by a dirt ramp that stood over thirty feet high.  Where once there was dirt, now one can look across the empty space and see the world on the other side.

From the far side of Memorial Avenue the route of the trestle still allows one a plain view all the way the active harbour and the Canadian Malting Elevator. Even after a decade the route still offers an unobstructed view.  When the trestle was still there this exact site was probably under a meter or so of soil, leading up to the actual trestle.

Between Memorial Avenue and Fort William Road stretches a long green space, bordered by a concrete lined drainage ditch.  Another reminder of the route used by the trestle as CN would not allow any development along the trestle corridor - ostensibly for the safety of everyone involved. The signs that mark this as rail company property and off limits to the general public are still in place along the entire corridor.

Beyond Fort William Road there are few reminders of the Ore Trestle, save for the massive concrete structure itself.  The route across the CN train yard at Port Arthur can be inferred, if only from the angle of the ore dock pointing towards the green space on the other side of Fort William Road. The ore dock itself seems to have no future right now - save to inspire memories.  Constructed entirely of poured concrete, it is expensive to demolish and there is no real use for the site upon which it sits.  The massive ore shoots and storage bins from its sides have long since been removed. Along the upper deck on can see four slight indentations - one for each of the sets of tracks which spanned the length of the dock.  For other pictures of  the dock check out the Intercity Harbour in the Harbour Section.